POCO Meter gone bad??

[JacksonburgFarmer]

Ok. Got a service call, guy says "my electric bill was almost $400.00 month the last two months. Before it was never over 140.00 each month. What is wrong?? I havent changed anything!!!!" So i go take a look, 200A Overhead service, 100A to house, 60A underground to detach garage. Nothing obvious showed up to me....So my question is, do the POCO meters go "bad"? Anyone had any experiance with this kinda thing?????

 

[peter d]

: 60A underground to detach garage.

The first thing I would check is the underground service to the garage. A nick or cut in the cable or conductors underground can create enough current leakage to consume power.

Another thing might be a well pump that is running continuously.

 

[Buck Parrish]

My bill went up about a $110 dollars a month.
I had contract billing where it stays the same all year.
They re-ajusted it.

 

[MF Dagger]

My gas meter went bad this winter. It stayed in the same spot all winter long and I called them at least 5 times about it. They finally fixed it and then charged me somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 bucks ofr the whole winter. Worked out amazing for me since my bill can get as high as 300 a month in the dead of winter

 

[480sparky]

1. Get out the last 12 months of utility bills. Look at the kWh of power used. Looking at dollars makes no sense. Just like thinking you're getting less MPG because of what you spend of gas today compared to last year. Usage alone will tell you if there's a problem.

2. Is the person on 'budget billing'? If so, maybe it's the anniversary, and his past usage increased enough to warrant an substantial increase in monthly payments.

 

[mdshunk]

normally when the meter goes bad it gets really slow. If the bill is high, something other than the meter is the culprit.

 

[Sparky555]

I'd troubleshoot it by checking each circuit with an ammeter. Look for a large load, then trace that circuit.

Dave

 

[brantmacga]

I'd troubleshoot it by checking each circuit with an ammeter. Look for a large load, then trace that circuit.

Dave

yep. that's what i'd do.

normally when the meter goes bad it gets really slow. If the bill is high, something other than the meter is the culprit.

i did a job where I noticed the service on the house was a life-threatening issue; no joke.

customer absolutely refused to have me fix it. he finally conceded that on this house somewhere around 3k sq. ft.(can't remember exactly) his utility bill was less than $50/mo, and he had a well. He was afraid the poco would find his slow meter.

 

[peter d]

normally when the meter goes bad it gets really slow.

Or stalls completely. True story. My friend was wondering why his electric bill was so low every month (just the $2.50 service charge) so I go and check the meter, and sure enough, it's just sitting there humming, stuck in place.

 

[mdshunk]

Or stalls completely. True story. My friend was wondering why his electric bill was so low every month (just the $2.50 service charge) so I go and check the meter, and sure enough, it's just sitting there humming, stuck in place.

I've heard some that sound like coffee grinders, so you know they've got to be running slow. Many of the older one's actually ran on a ruby bearing (the mineral ruby).

 

[zappy]

How do you know all this stuff?

How do you know all this stuff?

I've heard some that sound like coffee grinders, so you know they've got to be running slow. Many of the older one's actually ran on a ruby bearing (the mineral ruby).

Man you must eat,sleep,drink electricial!:smile:

 

[220/221]

Man you must eat,sleep,drink electricial!

He just makes most of this stuff up

 

[ohm]

I did a new church having a 800A 3ph service. We had power connected but no loads except a couple of 20A 120v light/receptacle loads. The pastor said POCO billed him $4000 for the month. I couldn't stop laughing.

I advised him to tell the POCO to check the settings on their CT's it should have been under $200.

They checked and it was. EVEN a POCO makes mistakes.

 

[gardiner]

I had a client complaining of a similar thing for years his bill was low then all of a sudden it increased. It turned out the Poco had decided to change some of their older meters and his house was one of the lucky ones.